Tag Archives: mmo

December Wrap-Up

I only saw one link in the comments, so if you posted but didn’t link, let me know!

The challenge was to tell me what you like about gaming or your favorite game. For me, there are two things: raiding and community. I love killing bosses and I love hanging out with my guild and chatting with the Twitter community.

And I’m a moonkin. For heaven’s sake, I Starfall. I also tab fail and Moonfire things, but that’s a post for another day.

Thanks, Rakuno, for one last post:

Shards of Imagination – Rakuno breaks down each of the parts of the challenge, jumping into adventuring, exploring stories, and seeing old friends reunited under the banner of Tyria!

What’s Next

The truth is, I don’t entirely know. Life recently has gotten insanely busy (but it’s worth every bit of it, I promise). My non-family free time is limited, so I often choose to play WoW during that time.

Unfortunately, that leaves only a little time for posting blogs.

I will definitely not be shutting down the blog again. I love this space. This is my space. It’s my place to talk at length about the things I experience and observe in the games I love so much. I just can’t promise consistency and long posts…of course, most of you figured that out a long time ago!

I hope someone will pick up the challenges and start doing them every month. You won’t regret it!

You can find more frequent posts on Twitter and the Tumblr I recently resurrected.

November Wrap-Up

In November, I asked you guys to write me a song, but that must have been a little daunting! Double cool points to those who posted:

>>Sugar & Blood brought back an old post with a great parody song: “Wish I Could Be a Vykrul Girl” with the opening line “Well the Night Elf girls are hip / I really dig those gowns they wear…” I do look pretty good in a gown, I must say, but vykrul girls are pretty cool too.

>>Mommy Jenkins busted out some musical mayhem including the lyrics to a parody song she was working on: “Doncha Wish Your Raider Was Skilled Like Me?” featuring the line: “‘Cause you know your buddy stands in the fire / and makes you wanna scream (and not in the good way).” You know it!

>> Adventures of the Hex Machine got in on the action with a remake of “Killing Me Softly” centered around the very, very painful dots of a Shadow Priest. Ouch!

And, as I promised Toriah on her blog, here’s one of my old fake CD’s. This one was entitled “Another Night in Ulduar.”

December Challenge: Your Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittensBright copper kettles and warm woolen mittensBrown paper packages tied up with stringsThese are a few of my favorite things…

What are your favorite things about gaming in general, or about your favorite game specifically? What keeps you coming back? What makes you smile? When the bee stings and you’re feeling bad, what is about gaming that makes you smile?

That’s the challenge!

Bonus Challenge: Tell me something awesome that happened to you this year!

And an important note: This is probably my last monthly challenge. I’ve taken on a lot more lately, and I can’t necessarily stick to a posting schedule. It’s been one of the coolest things ever, though; and if anyone wants to pick this up and run with it, I encourage you to do so. You won’t regret it!

October Wrap-Up: Incredible Costumes

From Hallow’s End transmogs to Mad King hijinks, there were some great costumes that came out of the October challenge. I’m just glad I finished the Mad King’s Clock Tower, everything else is meaningless now!

Take a look at these awesome costumes:

Sugar & Blood shows off a great Bewitched-inspired outfit–and some other pretty awesome ideas, too!

My daughter begged to be a rogue…she wanted to be a goblin, but she settled for human this year:

Whoever–or whatever–you were for Halloween, I hope it was a safe and fun one!

November Challenge: Feeling Musical

The other day on Twitter, I complained–okay, I whined–that I was feeling grumpy. That’s when Marathal posted this Tweet…

…that led to this song:

If you’re grumpy and you know it, gank a gnome.
If you’re grumpy and you know it, gank a gnome.
If you’re grumpy and you know it,
and you’re really ’bout to blow it,If you’re grumpy and you know it, gank a gnome.

If you’re wiping and you know it, blame the tank.
If you’re wiping and you know it, blame the tank.
If you’re wiping and you know it,
and you’re really ’bout to blow it,If you’re wiping and you know it, blame the tank.

If you’re losing and you know it, go for kills.
If you’re losing and you know it, go for kills.
If you’re losing and you know it
and you’re really ’bout to blow it,If you’re losing and you know it, go for kills.

The possibilities for additional verses are limitless. I’m sure I will have many opportunities to sing of epic stories to this tune.

This got me thinking–what other wandering minstrels (or at least semi-interested lyricists) do we have wandering around in our fantasy lands, not yet tapping into their talent?

Here is the challenge: Write the lyrics to a song (and/or the music if that’s your thing) about your game. It can be silly, fun, sweet, angry, a little naughty, a little nice–whatever you want to write about, write me a song about the game or games you play.

August Recap

I found out a lot about you guys and your collections! Some of you are minimalists, and some of you…well, your bags are overwhelming! Here’s a look at all of the bloggers who answered the “I’m a Collector” challenge; thank you guys!

The MMO Compendium – Feliz is a seller! While bags get full from the effort of selling, the compulsion to keep things is not strong in this one.

Image Heavy – An organizer at heart, there’s still some inadvertent collecting that happens for this blogger–the kind that comes from leveling and preparing for an expansion!

Anka Huntress – Anka’s not into running out of bag space, but game changes have turned her into a collector, after all!

Healing Mains – This right here is your “Aww” moment, ladies and gentlemen. I’m not even going to tell you more than that.

Kamalia et alia – I have to be completely honest: I’m a little jealous of this wardrobe. Not the organizing part of it, mind you, just the fact that there are so many things available in a moment’s notice.

Bubbles of Mischief – Cymre has…well, a LOT of things! But I’m impressed that they all make sense, which is more than I could say for my bank when I wrote the challenge post.

Starshadow (and Part 2) – In a 2 part post, there’s first the adventure of the stuff in Skyrim, where an organizing system gone awry put gaming on pause, and then an awesome collection of bows and books!

Shards of Imagination – Rakuno’s EQ2 collection is impressive. I mean, just take a look at that huge sword–and everything else! Besides “Everhoarder” is such an apt title…

Arguing With Myself – Ainyan’s a packrat. I’ve seen this first hand in-game–do NOT get into a click-my-items showdown with her! She’s also got quite a thing for pets.

The Crimson Hammer – Someone’s feeling the space crunch…leaving enough room for auction house and looting? I completely relate!

When SWTOR announced free-to-play this week, several sites used the phrase “hemorrhaging subscribers” to describe the huge decrease in subscriptions from launch until now. A lot of people are walking away, myself and my husband, Ultraking (UK for short) included.

As much as we’d like to sum it up with a blanket statement and say “Everyone’s quitting because of X,” that’s just not reality. Everyone is going to have their own reason for leaving, and while we’re likely to see trends, nailing down a definitive answer is, in my opinion, highly unlikely.

Recently, UK and I were discussing (again) why, exactly, we’re letting our SWTOR subscriptions run out. There was the overarching answer that we “just don’t enjoy it anymore,” but that’s a simple and incomplete. We got to talking about what exactly that means for each of us. We talked about things our friends have said, comments made on Twitter this week, things happening with our guild, and I think at the end of it, we have a pretty good idea of an actual answer.

The Expectation

The first reason isn’t actually anyone’s fault. The fact is, people had a lot of expectations for this game. It had one of the biggest, longest-lasting fandoms attached, before fandom came with Tumblr memes and Twitter lists. You attach “Star Wars” to something, and people suddenly get excited.

It’s understandable, isn’t it? Most of us love Star Wars on some level. Fans get instantly nostalgic thinking about it, and it’s not uncommon in any fan group to want to escape into that every once in a while. Some do it through books, others through websites. Some RP, and others–well, we play video games. People have very clear ideas about what the Star Wars universe actually is (although they don’t always match up), and the idea of an MMO–as close as you can virtually get to being a part of Star Wars–well, that’s exciting.

The game was hyped a lot. I don’t think it’s Bioware’s fault for hyping the game any more than I think it’s the players’ fault for having high expectations. Some people are pleased with the game the way it is. Some aren’t. It just is what it is, and that’s okay. Continue reading →

July Recap: Something About You

WOW. I can’t even begin to express how blown away I was with everyone’s responses to the July Challenge. Ranging from photos to stories, lighthearted to serious, the blogosphere impressed me so much with this challenge and inspired me to open up, too. Hold onto your helms and cloaks, guys; this is a long recap!

Warcraft Street told us about a personal gaming history that has touched several games–and platforms–resulting in a love for Simulation games and MMOs!

The Harpy’s Nest presented 4 personal facts including a love for hats and a super interesting story about her grandma you should definitely read.

Azerothian Life broached a serious–and very personal–topic discussing rape culture in World of Warcraft, specifically the unfortunate ease with which we (the community in general) throw around the word “rape.”

Tome of the Ancient takes us to “Long Ago,” when bloggers rode horses…no, really, the picture is great, and here’s to passions, new and old.

Sugar & Blood discusses names, what’s in a name, what’s not in a name, and everything in between!

Image Heavy combined two of my favorite things: pictures and lists. It shouldn’t be a surprise that this particular blogger likes photography!

Shards of Imagination covers a lot of things, including honing English through gaming (imagine, you can learn while doing something you like!) and where the name “Rakuno” originates.

Arsenic and Old Mooncloth dives into a very personal look at why she plays video games and the bullying, fear, and self-esteem issues she’s overcoming.

Anka Huntress tells the story fairy-tale style of how she met and fell in love with her warrior, Aiden.

I told you it was a lot! Some incredibly interesting, moving, and funny stuff in there, I highly encourage to check them out!

August Challenge: I’m a Collector

I think everyone knows that I frequent Twitter. As I said the other night, Twitter knows everything. Yesterday, when I was looking through my bags realizing that I needed to fix my space situation very, very soon, I posted a picture of my inventory on Twitter. As it turns out, a lot of people have opinions and systems and ideas about how and why they keep things.

Do you cling to materials in the hopes of always having what you need, or do you store things for the sake of nostalgia? Is your inventory or storage neatly organized or do you rely heavily on search tools to find what you need? Do you collect pets? Mounts? Gear? Memories?

So this is your challenge: I want to know what you collect in the game or games you play. However and why-ever you loot, keep, store, organize, whatever you hold onto, or even if you refuse to hold onto anything–tell me about it! Remember to link to me or link your blog in the comments. Continue reading →

Last month, I challenged you guys to tell me a story about something that has happened to you in game. We all have those stories that we like telling, and here are a few. Pull up your story rug…

Ivy4Life told us about a D&D experience that started with “a large and….. naked troll is following us with a bag over its shoulder with two large balls inside” and left us hanging on “our wizard being stuffed into a bag, in the hands of the troll.” I have a feeling there are a lot more stories lurking here.

Suzita shared an epic EQ2 moment when a group of friends found themselves stuck–stuck at a door. There was nothing to do but laugh–and kick some butt. Thankfully, they got to do both!

Ninevi related an experience that hits a little close to home! I have a habit of getting stuck in terrain, and Ninevi tells the story of her and her gnome rogue buddy (gnome rogues ftw, I might add) and their precarious–and hilarious–experience of being stuck on a boat near a group of Horde in Tanaris.